Dovetail tower

The swallowtail tower in Grimmelschanze

The swallowtail tower is a former defense tower of the Upper Swabian city ​​of Memmingen . It is also called the Grimmelturm .

location

The tower stands on the west side of the so-called Ulmer Vorstadt between the white flour sack and the dungeon tower .

Appearance

The dovetail tower is a round tower made of bricks . At the back it is flattened in the entrance area and provided with a simple framework . The former stand space is no longer preserved. Today it has a pitched roof covered with roof tiles . The battlements are built like swallowtails . In the spring of 2008, the half-timbering at the back of the tower had to be replaced by brick masonry, as the wood was no longer stable.

history

The dovetail tower was built in 1445 as a gun turret during the last city expansion. Its main purpose was to secure the city's Achilles' heel, the corner between the Ulm suburb and the old Guelph city. He was also used to defend Grimmelschanze. The name is derived from the pinnacles in the form of dovetails . The name Grimmelturm comes from the inner-city property of the Lords of Grimmel, a former patrician family of Memmingen. The tower was previously open on the city side and was later closed by a wall. The tower had four floors, of which only two remain. The bottom floor is now at ground level as the defensive trench has been filled in. The top floor is no longer available due to the roof that was added later.

literature

• Tilmann Breuer : City and district of Memmingen (=  Bavarian art monuments . Volume 4 ). Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1959, ZDB -ID 256533-X , p. 32 .

Web links

Commons : Stadtbefestigung Memmingen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 59 ′ 17 "  N , 10 ° 10 ′ 45.1"  E